Mark Munoz and Chris Weidman square off at UFC on Fuel TV 4 in a middleweight fight to potentially determine who gets the next crack at Anderson Silva’s Middleweight Championship. The rest of the card features a wide variety of fighting styles and athl…
Mark Munoz and Chris Weidman square off at UFC on Fuel TV 4 in a middleweight fight to potentially determine who gets the next crack at Anderson Silva‘s Middleweight Championship.
The rest of the card features a wide variety of fighting styles and athletes that are sure to excite the crowd. From a light heavyweight slugfest between James TeHuna and Joey Beltran to fast-paced Flyweight action, this card offers a little bit of everything.
The event comes to you from the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California live on Fuel TV. Bleacher Report will provide round-by-round coverage and analysis for all the fights on the card.
Main Card on Fuel TV
Mark Munoz (186) vs. Chris Weidman (186) James TeHuna (205) vs. Joey Beltran (205) Aaron Simpson (171) vs. Kenny Robertson (170) Karlos Vemola (186) vs. Francis Carmont (186) T.J. Dillashaw (136) vs. Vaughan Lee (135) Rafael dos Anjos (156) vs. Anthony Njokuani (136)
Preliminary Card on Facebook
Damacio Page (136) vs. Alex Caceres (136) Chris Cariaso (125) vs. Josh Ferguson (125) Rafael Natal (186) vs. Andrew Craig (185) Marcelo Guimares (171) vs. Dan Stittgen (170) Raphael Assuncao (136) vs. Issei Tamura (135)
Anderson Silva. Middleweight champion of the world. Greatest of all time. After finishing Chael Sonnen in the second round at UFC 148 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, it appears that he has once again cleared out the middleweight division. The list of co…
Anderson Silva. Middleweight champion of the world. Greatest of all time.
After finishing Chael Sonnen in the second round at UFC 148 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, it appears that he has once again cleared out the middleweight division.
The list of contenders is relatively weak. Mark Munoz has had trouble with other middleweights not on Silva’s plateau, Chris Weidman is still a young prospect growing into the fighter he will one day become and Michael Bisping has yet to return from his loss to Chael Sonnen.
Bisping seems the most logical choice, but would that even be competitive? Bisping is nowhere near the striker or wrestler he needs to be to compete with Silva.
That leaves a return to the light heavyweight division—and not to challenge for the title and have a so-called superfight with Jon Jones, but to provide the UFC with money fights between veterans who are not in the hunt.
And the one that jumps off the page is Rashad Evans vs. Anderson Silva.
Much has been made of Evans’ frame. Joe Rogan has commented on previous UFC broadcasts that he could make 185 lbs. That has never been a great idea to Evans, who has utilized his speed and athleticism to great heights at 205 lbs.
After suffering the defeat to Jon Jones earlier in 2012, he will be out of the light heavyweight title picture for quite some time. What is more important to Evans at this stage in his career: big money fights or making another run at the championship? Only he knows the answer to that.
A fight against Anderson Silva would be another highly marketable bout. And unlike Silva’s previous forays in to the division, Evans will have the speed, wrestling, power and athleticism to make it an interesting contest.
While the proposed superfights between Silva and Georges St-Pierre or Jones seem good on paper, they offer no redeeming value. Why make one of your champions suffer a defeat, and potentially a brutal one?
That just sounds bad for business—especially when there are other marketable stars to fill that hole if you want a superfight.
Rashad Evans fills that void.
Evans also brings his trash-talking to the table. He is able to sell a fight as good as anyone in the business. If he uses this against Silva, it will make for another premier battle the UFC could promote for a big show.
The fight makes sense.
Silva is done at middleweight and is 37 years old. It is time to let the new regime of talented youngsters take over, while he collects big paychecks for huge fights.
If a young fighter challenges for the belt and upsets him, it will make it seem as if Silva is old and past his prime. His value plummets then. Pitting him against another veteran headed for the UFC Hall of Fame doesn’t threaten his stock like that.
With the amount of cards the UFC puts on in a year now, it also helps spread out the talent. It frees up a championship that can headline a card while two big stars headline in another market.
And since Evans is not competing for a title shot any time soon and has all the tools in and out of the Octagon to sell the fight, he is at the top of the list.
Two dynamic athletes competing to simply find out who is better. No championships. No obvious physical disadvantages. They are evenly matched in those regards. It would be a legacy fight for either man.
Black House vs. Blackzilians. Silva vs. Evans. Sign me up.
UFC 148 is just a day away, and big events like this draw an interest from outside of the normal fanbase. It is the perfect time to bring in other sports fans and show them why they should start watching MMA. The UFC holding a large event early in July…
UFC 148 is just a day away, and big events like this draw an interest from outside of the normal fanbase. It is the perfect time to bring in other sports fans and show them why they should start watching MMA.
The UFC holding a large event early in July is a great decision. No other major sport is going on. They own the calendar. What other major sporting event will draw their interest away to avoid going to your UFC 148 watch party?
When they begin to ask about the card and who is fighting, the lead is obvious.
The biggest rematch in UFC, and arguably MMA, history; Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen.
The most dominant champion in MMA history goes up against the only man to challenge him inside the Octagon. If this non-MMA fan has watched any boxing fight in the past they can easily identify with that storyline.
And if they are still on the fence for that fight, just show them a few Chael Sonnen clips.
But unlike boxing, as we all know, MMA is built around an entire card of fights. The non-MMA fan can be sold on knowing what other fights await them on this night of incredible action.
UFC 148’s main card features five more fights outside of the highly anticipated main event.
In the night’s co-main event, one of the most important figures of the sport will enter the cage for the last time. The non-MMA fan will get to see one of the sport’s biggest stars in his retirement fight. And standing across from him will be one of the two men responsible for the MMA explosion that The Ultimate Fighter brought.
Also featured is an intriguing welterweight clash between Dong Hyun Kim and Demian Maia. Sell this fight by mentioning how both men were top contenders in their respective divisions and that Maia is dropping down to 170. The winner gets put in to the upper echelon of the weight class.
Opening the PPV portion of the fight card is the potential fight of the night. Ivan Menjivar squares off against Mike Easton. Most certainly these names will not make an impression on the non-MMA fan, but their abilities and fast-paced action inside the cage will.
And as you sell this card, you still have failed to mention Chad Mendes vs. Cody McKenzie and Cung Le vs. Patrick Cote.
So, the potential fan still sits on the fence. Trying to decide if he or she should listen to you about MMA.
Then turn on the television and put the channel to FX. Explain to them that the UFC gives away the preliminary card for free, and if you like what you see, then purchase UFC 148 and see the big stars under the bright lights.
Gleison Tibau vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov, Melvin Guillard vs. Fabricio Camoes, Constantinos Philippou vs. Riki Fukuda and John Alessio vs. Shane Roller come to their television set free of charge. They get to experience a small part of what is to come later on pay-per-view.
UFC 148 has a great mixture of talent, matchups and storylines. Any fan of sports should, at the very least, be intrigued by what is happening in Las Vegas this weekend. As you sell them on UFC 148, it should be apparent that it is a can’t miss event of the summer.
And if they ignore you… mention that Steven Seagal taught you how to front kick them in the face.
UFC 148 emanates from Las Vegas this Saturday night with the biggest rematch in MMA history. UFC 117 was the much-publicized first battle that nearly saw the end of Anderson Silva’s long reign atop the UFC’s middleweight division.Chael Sonnen dominated…
UFC 148 emanates from Las Vegas this Saturday night with the biggest rematch in MMA history.
UFC 117 was the much-publicized first battle that nearly saw the end of Anderson Silva‘s long reign atop the UFC’s middleweight division.
Chael Sonnen dominated with wrestling and ground and pound until he was caught in a triangle choke late in the fifth and final round.
When the two meet with bad intentions on Saturday, Silva will need to use what he learned from the first fight to ensure another title defense.
Here are five key takeaways from their first fight at UFC 117.
Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen. The most anticipated rematch in MMA history is almost upon us. The questions that followed UFC 117 are about to be put to bed when the two elite middleweights step in to the cage Saturday night. What was to be a stadium…
Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen. The most anticipated rematch in MMA history is almost upon us.
The questions that followed UFC 117 are about to be put to bed when the two elite middleweights step in to the cage Saturday night.
What was to be a stadium show in Brazil for UFC 147 changed in to a week-long spectacle in Las Vegas for the holiday week. The UFC 148 card lost Rich Franklin and the Bantamweight Championship, but the card remains strong with a six-fight main card.
Patrick Cote returns to the UFC to replace Rich Franklin against Cung Le, and Forrest Griffin looks to settle the score against Tito Ortiz (who will enter the UFC Hall of Fame earlier in the day) in their third and final fight. Other bouts on the main card features contenders in their respective divisions looking to add to their win total.
The pre-fight press conference between Silva and Sonnen was electric, and as the International Fight Week moves along with the UFC Fan Expo, the electricity will continue to build.
As the title indicates, I will supply you with previews, odds and predictions.
Saturday night’s pay-per-view opening bout was yet another tightly contested UFC 147 fight. Hacran Dias came away with the unanimous decision victory after repeated takedowns and ground-and-pound on Yuri Alcantara.Here is what we learned about the…
Saturday night’s pay-per-view opening bout was yet another tightly contested UFC 147 fight. Hacran Dias came away with the unanimous decision victory after repeated takedowns and ground-and-pound on Yuri Alcantara.
Here is what we learned about the two featherweight warriors after their bout in Brazil:
What we’ll remember about this fight
Dias’ improved wrestling and active top game controlled the up-and-coming featherweight en route to the decision victory. Dias enters the fray at 145 pounds.
Alcantara entered 147 with a lot of hype after putting together a 13-fight win streak. However, famed MMA academy Nova União seems to have produced yet another featherweight prospect for the UFC.
What we learned about fighter Yuri Alcantara
Alcantara turned up the heat too late against Dias. But more importantly, he showed he still needs to develop a better takedown defense.
Dias has improved his wrestling, but Alcantara gave up too many takedowns to have a chance of pulling out the victory. With many good wrestlers in the featherweight division, he will need to address this hole in his game before he makes a run
What we learned about fighter Hacran Dias
Enter another contender from Nova União. Dias wins his ninth in the row by defeating Alcantara.
A debut win over Alcantara is perfect for Dias. He effectively stole all of his thunder and takes his place as the prospect to watch in the division. And with an improved wrestling attack to go along with his excellent submission game.
Nova União continues to produce elite level talent.
What’s next for fighter Yuri Alcantara
Alcantara needs a rebound fight. As long as his next opponent is not a top featherweight coming off of a loss, it makes sense.
What’s next for fighter Hacran Dias
A fight against Jason Young would make sense for Dias. After a stellar performance against Alcantara he needs another fight or two before taking on a contender in the division.
